Rock, Kansas
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Rock Creek Township. It lies in ZIP code area 67131. It stands on Polecat Creek. The Survey maps it on the Udall quadrangle. 94 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,178 feet above sea level.
On record in Rock
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
Bucher Bridgelisted 1985
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 14 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1890 USGS Wellington quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1955 USGS Udall quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Wichita quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Wichita quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Wellington quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
86 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 86 fires within 5 miles of Rock between 2001 and 2020, burning about 1,760 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 3 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 54 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 9 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Cowley County | 2017155 |
| 23 September 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 2015156 |
| 14 September 2004 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Cowley County | not named |
| 14 September 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Cowley County | not named |
| 12 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Cowley County | not named |
| 16 August 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Cowley County | not named |
| 15 August 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Cowley County | not named |
| 14 August 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
60 of 68 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rock in 68 storm reports between 1993 and 2024: 38 hail, 18 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 3 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | 1 hurt, $5,000,000 | Ninety to 115 mph winds hit the Burden area. Big trees were uprooted, a horse barn collapsed and grain bins were destroyed. In Atlanta, a mobile home was blown over and demolished. A man inside at the time sustained a punctured lung and concussion and was hospitalized in fair condition. The winds, estimated at 85 mph, collapsed two brick walls and caused considerable tree damage. Sixty mph winds occurred in Cambridge and were estimated up to 80 mph in Rock where golf ball-size hail fell. The Winfield cooling tower sustained $103 thousand damage from 70 mph winds and there was heavy damage to the roof of Dexter High School. |
| July 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | $1,000,000 | Large grain bins along Highway 77 about 5 miles south of Rock were heavily damaged. One grain bin collapsed completely, and the top half of another bin caved in substantially. Additionally, numerous trees were downed across mainly western portions of the county. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | $75,000 | BARN BLOWN DOWN, MOBILE HOME ROLLED OVER, NUMEROUS TREES BLOWN DOWN. |
| October 1993 | Hail | Rock | $50,000 | no account filed |
| May 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | $20,000 | Reports of power lines down. Time is estimated from radar. |
| March 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | $10,000 | Co-op building sustained roof damage. |
| April 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | $5,000 | Power poles were blown down. |
| September 2008 | Flash Flood | Rock | $5,000 | Cowley County Road 2 just east of Rock had water over the road. |
| March 1993 | Hail | Rock | $5,000 | no account filed |
| October 2018 | Flood | Rock | $100 | Flooding closed 26th road west of the town of Rock. |
| September 2016 | Flash Flood | Rock | $100 | Roads were closed due to high water across the northern part of Cowley county. |
| April 2024 | Hail | Rock | - | Report was received via mPing. |
| June 2022 | Heavy Rain | Rock | - | A picture was sent via Facebook of 4.1 inches of rain that fell from showers and storms during the overnight into the morning hours. |
| May 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | This was an estimated gust. |
| December 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | A county official reported damage. No specifics were given. |
| May 2019 | Flood | Rock | - | Numerous county & township roads were closed throughout the county. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | No damage was reported at this location. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | No damage was reported. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | The gust occurred 3 miles south of the Butler/Cowley County line on U.S. Highway 77. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | Reported at the intersection of K15 and highway 77. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | The trained spotter reported limbs 4 to 6 inches in diameter were downed at the Kansas Highway 15/U.S. Highway 77 intersection. |
| August 2017 | Hail | Rock | - | A trained spotter reported dime to golf ball sized hail shredding leaves from trees. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | Wind speed was measured. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | Estimated gust reported by a trained spotter. |
| September 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Rock | - | Rope tornado touched down in an open field. |
| September 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | An amateur radio spotter reported the gust. |
| September 2010 | Tornado (EF0) | Rock | - | The tornado briefly touched down in open country. |
| October 2007 | Hail | Rock | - | Estimated 50 mph wind gusts accompanied the hail. |
| October 2007 | Heavy Rain | Rock | - | Total rainfall from the event was 4.1 inches. | |
| June 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Rock | - | The tornado touched down and moved over open country. |
| May 2002 | Flash Flood | Rock | - | Road leading into/out of town under water. |
| May 2002 | Flash Flood | Rock | - | Water covered unspecified road. |
| May 2002 | Flash Flood | Rock | - | Cowley County Road flooded due to rises on Walnut River. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| August 2017 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2016 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2016 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2016 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| June 2013 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| April 2011 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| August 2003 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| October 2001 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | no account filed |
| September 2001 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| November 1998 | Hail | Rock | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Rock | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Rock | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7354137 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 470206. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.




